Those Arms
by Seirarin
Summary: Ryou didn't remember much about him, but he wanted to see him again, Too bad the truth is about to resurface. Angstshipping for the YGO FF Contest, Tier 2.


Okay, it's time for tier two of the contest! This time… ANGSTSHIPPING! My OTP! I think it's better than my Prideshipping because it's about two characters I can actually stand. So anyways, enjoy!

_ When he came to, the first thing he felt was the warmth, radiating off of the person holding him. This and the pressure applied to his chest that was keeping him upright. These, of all things, were the first things he noticed. Not the throbbing pain in his arm, or the blood dripping down and splattering against the ground. No, it was the warm, comfortable feeling that this person gave off._

_ "Are you okay?" a voice called out from the distance. Did it belong to that person? He tried to respond, but a groan was all he could manage._

_ "Come on, just a bit farther…" He stumbled and fell a few times, almost bringing the other person down with him._

_ "Here," the person said softly, tightening his grip around his shoulders. "Are you sure you're okay?"_

_ "Y-yes…" he whispered lamely. It was the first word he managed to say, in his weakened state._

_ "Bakura!" Some familiar voices called out. "What happened?" It was his friends, that much he could tell._

_ But… what are they doing here? More importantly, what am I doing here? What happened? He wasn't sure- it was probably his imagination- but he thought he heard a chuckle from the back of his mind in response._

_ "Bakura! Are you okay?" Were they asking him? Yes, they were._

_ "I-I don't know what happened… I woke up like this…" he answered groggily._

_ There were some words exchanged between the group and the person holding him, but he was too tired to understand any of them. _

_ He vaguely remembered being dragged from that spot to a car, before it all went black again._

XXX

That was one of Ryou's only memories of Battle City. He didn't know why. But he wrote it off as one of the many things he would never find out about his Yami's actions.

He later found out from Yugi and his group that the person who had rescued him was named Marik. They seemed reluctant to tell him anything else, however, and he couldn't understand why. Not that it surprised him, though. They didn't seem to want to tell him anything about those mysterious blackouts he had, although he had persisted enough to get at least some information. Like the rather important fact that a bloodthirsty Egyptian spirit had been the one to take over his body.

"You're lucky, Yugi," Ryou said when they first told him. "At least you got to see what he was doing with your body."

And so the days passed normally, a welcome change of pace for Ryou, who finally had a chance to be around friends and not worry for their safety. Even if they did still seem a bit cautious around him, he was welcomed into their group as though nothing ever happened between them. They played games together almost every day, joked around together, and did those things that all friends did together.

So why did Ryou feel like something was missing? Like there was something they weren't telling him? Whenever he asked about the mysterious person who had helped him, they changed the subject. But for whatever reason, Ryou wanted- no, _needed_- to know the truth.

But he remained too shy to ask, and it was rarely ever brought up in the following months. Summer turned to Autumn, and Autumn gradually turned to Winter, Ryou's least favorite season. It reminded him too much of his sister, and the time they spent out in the snow. When he was in school during the long, freezing months, he spent most of his time staring out the window at the snowfall.

"Bakura?"

"Bakura?"

"…Hey, Bakura!" It was Jounouchi, playfully swatting him on the head. His head shot up from his desk, and his eyes darted around. Had class really gotten out already? He had spent the past hour or so daydreaming.

"Nnn… what is it? I was having a nice dream!"

Anzu teasingly glared at him. "A model student shouldn't be sleeping in class!" Ryou blushed, and the rest of the group grinned.

"So anyway, we were wondering if you wanted to come with us." Yugi said, finally getting to the point.

"Depends. Where are you going?"

"We're going to have a karaoke party at Yugi's house!" Honda shouted. The teacher shot him a menacing glare, which Honda gleefully ignored.

"And I think the Ishtars may be coming, too," Yugi continued, ignoring Honda. "They called and said they were in town, so I invited them."

Ryou's face instantly flushed. The Ishtars? As in, Marik?

_Warm arms, surrounding him._

_The musty smell, enveloping him._

Ryou shook his head. He needed to stop thinking about this, especially if they would be seeing each other soon.

"So, Bakura? Are you in, or what?"

He nodded. "Sure, I'll come."

XXX

And that was how Ryou had ended up staring out the window as his friends belted out terrible-sounding songs. He couldn't help but be disappointed- they had been there for over an hour, and the Ishtars still had yet to show up. It wasn't as though that was the only reason for coming to this party, but it had been a majorly contributing factor.

"Hey, Bakura!" Yugi said, snapping him out of his thoughts. '"Aren't you going to sing anything?"

"Huh? Oh, um… sure."He put on a smile and stood up, waiting behind Jounouchi as he finished his seventh or so song.

Over the sound of his obnoxious singing, nobody heard the person knocking at the door. Anyone, that is, except for Ryou, whose heart leapt at the sound. Could Marik finally have shown up?

"I'll get the door," he muttered, as no one else seemed to notice. And he was glad he did, because the person standing on the other side was undeniably Marik Ishtar.

Marik smiled. "Sorry I'm late," he said apologetically. "There was a hold-up at the museum Ishizu is working at."

"No problem." Yugi stepped in, smiling. "Glad you could make it." He looked to either side of Marik, then back at him. "Where are Rishid and Ishizu?"

"They got caught up at work. But they said I could come, so…"

Ryou slithered away as Yugi and Marik got caught up. He had said he was going to sing, after all.

_It's alright_, he thought. _I can talk to him later._

XXX

Well, he knew that he _could_ talk to him. His only problem? He had no idea what to say to this person, who was now sitting right next to him on the couch. He knew his face had probably turned a nice shade of pink, but he ignored it and hoped everyone else as well.

But it was strange. The entire time, it felt like Marik had been staring at him. Although whenever Ryou even glanced at him, his eyes quickly darted away.

This went on for half an hour before Ryou had had enough of it. "If there's something you want to say, you should just say it."

Marik finally looked him in the eye. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been staring at me for a while now. I figured there was something you wanted."

"Um, well, it's just… you…um…"

"What is it?"

Marik took a deep breath. He looked tense, and Ryou wondered if it was a bad idea to say anything.

"Your name is Bakura, right?" Ryou nodded.

"Well, it's just… you look just like him."

Ryou's blood ran cold. There he was, mentioning him again. Him and his friends had learned to refrain from mentioning any of the Yamis- it seemed too painful and awkward, especially for Yugi. So hearing Marik mention it so easily seemed strange.

"Well, I suppose I would," Ryou said, laughing. "We share a body after all." Marik, however, stayed completely serious.

"That's right…" Marik said, staring straight ahead…

XXX

_Their first and only kiss was a messy one. Their bodies grinded together, as though they were meant to fit like a puzzle piece. Neither one wanted to deny their feelings, so they let them run wild._

"_W-we should be working on our plans," Marik muttered during one of the brief moments that they pulled apart for air. "We don't have time for this."_

"_That would be boring though, wouldn't it?" Bakura answered, before pulling him back for more…_

XXX

"Marik… is something wrong? You sort of spaced out for a while."

Marik's response was to pull Ryou closer, holding him in those strong, tan arms that Ryou had missed so much.

"You feel just like him, too," Marik said, before pulling him into a kiss.

Ryou kissed nothing like Bakura had. Maybe it was because it had been so sudden, but where Bakura had been rough, as though begging for more, Ryou was soft, barely returning it.

When he pulled apart, he realized that the whole room was staring at them, completely silent except for blaring music.

Marik tried to laugh it off, to no avail. Ryou's face turned beet red, although he did nothing to get himself free from Marik's grasp. This was what he had been waiting for all along, ever since that day.

"Um, if you want us to leave, we can," Yugi said, his face almost as red as Ryou's.

"Please," Marik said calmly. "We have something we need to talk about." The other four silently and quickly left the room. When it was completely quiet- the song had long ended- Marik cleared his throat.

He wasted no time getting to the point. "Bakura, you need to know… your yami and I… we had teamed up during Battle City."

Ryou's breath hitched. Was this it? Was he finally going to find out more about what had happened?

"And we had our arguments along the way, but I… damn it, Bakura, I loved him."

"Is that why you saved me that day?" Ryou asked softly. "Because we shared a body?" Marik's face immediately grew uneasy.

"Well… not really. I hate to tell you, Ryou, but that was part of one of his plans, as well. I didn't really save you. I…"

"I get it now," Ryou said. He wasn't sure what this pain in his chest was, but it probably had something to do with the fact that his dreams had just been crushed. Marik _hadn't_ helped him of his own free will. He _wasn't_ as kind as he had initially thought.

"I'm sorry, Bakura," he said. "To be honest, I regret most of what I did back then-"

"So that's it, huh?" Ryou laughed, and finally made his way out of Marik's arms. "I was just being used?"

"Bakura, please, just let me explain." Ryou sighed.

"Fine."

And so Marik told him. About his past, his motivations, everything that had led to what he had done. Ryou listened quietly, nodding his head every now and then.

"I see," he said when he had finally finished. "So what you're saying is that everything you did was to get revenge for your awful childhood?"

Marik laughed artificially. "Yeah. I guess it is kind of a stupid reason, isn't it?"

"No, it's not."

Marik looked up, straight into Ryou's eyes. Surely he couldn't be serious. But he knew that it was exactly what he had wanted to hear. Ever since reclaiming his body, it was what he had wanted to hear.

"Are you sure that's what you think?" Marik said quietly. Ryou looked thoughtful for a moment, carefully considering his answer.

"I don't know yet. You'll need to give me some time, okay?. But Marik, if you want people to forgive you, you need to forgive yourself."

"…What?"

Ryou sighed. "Marik, if you stay so negative about yourself, everyone will think negatively of you."

Marik smiled, genuinely this time. "You're right."

This time, Ryou was the one who took the initiative. He pulled Marik's face closer to his, and kissed him.

"Stay with me," Ryou whispered as he pulled away. "Please. I can help you."

"Yeah," Marik said. "I'll stay, Bakura."

"Ryou. Call me Ryou."

XXXXXXX

So, reviews? Once again, constructive criticism would be appreciated on this little contest entry. Thanks!


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